Series / Not Going Out

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Pun-heavy British sitcom staring Lee Mack and Tim Vine as best friends Lee and Tim. Lee lives with landlord Kate, Tim's ex-girlfriend; Kate moves back to America in the second series and is replaced by Tim's sister Lucy. Other supporting characters include Lee's cleaner Barbara, played by Miranda Hart (in series 2 and 3), Tim's girlfriend Daisy, played by Katy Wix (from series 2 onwards), and Lucy's boyfriend Guy (in series 2 only). Tim Vine left after series 5, leaving the main cast for series 6 as just Lee, Lucy and Daisy; the seventh series introduced Toby, played by Hugh Dennis, as a Suspiciously Similar Substitute for Tim. Both Katy Wix and Miranda Hart were springboarded from exposure in this show to series of their own.

The 2017 series is a Retool of the entire format; the action has advanced by several years and Lee and Lucy are not only married, they have young children. Daisy is no longer part of the show, but Toby and Lee and Lucy's parents have a more active role.

This show contains examples of:

All Psychology Is Freudian: Parodied/subverted. At Kate's insistence, Lee reluctantly agrees to see a Californian therapist for one session. After answering her questions with his typical hurricane of witty quips and innuendos, she says she'd like to talk about his mother, leading to this exchange:

Big Damn Kiss: An absolutely massive one (complete with a Glomp) from Lucy after Lee proposes.

Bottle Episode: There have been three bottle episodes so far - the skiing episode in Series 6 which was set entirely in a cable car, the plane episode in Series 7 in which Lee thinks there is a terrorist attack, and the episode in Series 7 set entirely in the bar.

Could Have Avoided This Plot: "Christmas Shopping" has the cast getting trapped in a store with an armed robber who has smashed their phones. At the end it turns out Frank had forgotten he had a phone in his hat.

A slightly different take to usual, as Betty is elderly, frail and clearly has dementia.

Averted with Miranda Hart's first appearance as an acupuncturist, which sees Lee attacking her as a background joke.

Enormous Engagement Ring: Lucy is taken aback by the massive and expensive diamonds her slightly dodgy nightclub-owning boyfriend has given her as a sort of engagement gift. Her cynical and jealous flatmate Lee suggests this is all a scam to get otherwise chargeable jewellry through Customs for free as Lucy and her man are off on a dream holiday.

Genius Ditz: Daisy - who once in a while does something brilliant, like rescuing Tim and Lee from a psychopathic drug dealer. Or putting all Lee's money on a horse on a whim - and winning at enormous odds, thus rescuing him from an evil clown to whom he owes a lot of cash. It makes sense in context.

Girl-on-Girl Is Hot: Lee and Tim frequently invokes this when a Lesbian couple moves downstairs.

Grand Finale: While it remains to be seen if more episodes are forthcoming, the 2014 Christmas Special definitely feels like this with shedloads of flashbacks, the return of Tim, and a very conclusive ending to the Will They or Won't They? between Lee and Lucy.

Hesitation Equals Dishonesty: Lee accuses Lucy of being dishonest when she hesitates over questions about her relationship with Amy. When she throws it back at him questioning him about his relationship with Tim and he hesitates he brushes it off by saying he was sickened by the suggestion.

Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Lee invokes this to guilt-trip Lucy into letting him stay for Christmas, including suggesting his stepfather subjected his sister to Trial by water when she started her periods during which she drowned.

I Object: Played for laughs twice in quick succession at Lee and Lucy's wedding in the 2014 Christmas Special. The first is Tim arriving at the last minute to take his place as Lee's best man, and the second is Frank getting petulant about no longer being the best man.

Jerkass Has a Point: Lucy frequently gives Lee grief about how he acts towards and treats his father, and she's probably right to. But in Lee's defense, his dad has treated him with even less consideration and care for most of his whole life.

Joke Exhaustion: If anyone tries to make a serious point to Lee Mack, his stock response is to return with a blizzard of obfuscating one-line jokes and wordplays. His co-star Tim Vine is a comedian renowned for his ability to create one-line non-sequeterial jokes practically instantaneously.

The Klutz: Barbara, who manages to break something every time she cleans.

Like Father, Like Son: Lee and his dad are very similar in how they act, as much as Lee would like to think otherwise.

Like an Old Married Couple: Lee and Lucy naturally evolve into this, justified as they have lived together for seven years they even lampshade it in the episode concerning the Potato Hooch drinking binge in series five:

Lucy : (annoyed) Hang on you're my lodger, when did you suddenly become my husband?

May I Borrow a Cup of Sugar?: In one episode, this appears to be a Meet Cute, but turns out to be the excuse version of sorts when a young woman who thinks she is Lee's daughter appears at his door. Turns out at the end that she isn't Lee's daughter after all. When a guy shows up at the end of the episode asking to borrow some milk Lee tells him there's a Tesco nearby and shuts the door on him.

Mistaken for Gay: In the finale Tim turns up in time for the Wedding objection and says he should be standing beside Lee (as best man). When Lee's dad objects as he is best man the Vicar says it's legal now.

Precision F-Strike: A couple through the series, including Lucy's "What the fuck is going on?"

The most notable is Wendy's when Lee, Geoffrey, and Frank are missing right before Lee and Lucy's wedding. You'd never quite expect to hear the words "Or I'll have the fucking bollocks off the pair of them" from her.

Promotion to Opening Titles: Daisy in series 4, replacing Barbara's spot in the sequence. (Following Tim Vine's departure after series 5, in series 6 the opening titles were re-filmed to put her front and centre.)

Pull the Plug on the Title: The title sequence shows the words as big multiple-lightbulb signs held up by Lee, Tim and Kate(then Lucy). Lee's word goes out randomly in series 1 and 6, and either Barbara (series 2-3) or Daisy (series 4-5) is shown unplugging it.

Lee: Honestly, who do you know who could break a passport? (the cleaner walks in)Lee: Honestly, who do you know that's a beautiful nymphomaniac rich widow? (nothing happens)Lee: Oh, so it's just the one wish then.

Rule of Funny: In series 6, Tim's absence is Hand Waved within 10 seconds of the first episode as working in Germany, and it is never explained why his girlfriend continues to show up randomly at his sister's flat.

When Lee turns the radio on to drown out the sound of his dad getting a suppository it's "The Only Way is Up" by Yazz.

Suspiciously Specific Denial: When discussing Police falsely accusing people if they can't get them for a real crime, Frank mentions a break-in at an off-licence in 1974 along with what was stolen before catching himself.

Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Toby is one for Tim in some respects. Both are intelligent and well-off middle class Butt Monkeys who get dragged into Lee's schemes to their detriment. Though Toby is more self-assured and most of the humour comes from his being a Henpecked Husband rather than a lack of masculinity like Tim.

Toilet Humour: Used occasionally but hilariously such as when Lee and Tim are called upon to babysit Guy's grandson.

Totally Radical: Parodied. Lee has found yet another dead-end job, so Kate asks him if he bothered to look at some career leaflets she got for him. He dismissively says that they're all aimed at kids, citing a slogan: "Do you want a career, innit?" Kate reads the leaflet; the slogan in question is actually "Do you want a career in IT?"

Tough Crowd...: Both Tim and Lee. Lee even uses it as a catchphrase of sorts.

Trouble Entendre: A "Fawlty Towers" Plot rendered the main characters unable to say their true meanings in order not to reveal the fact that they weren't disabled, leading to this sort of talk, which everyone else remains clueless to, even when one of them explicitly says "blackmail".

Barbara: Listen. When I was just a little girl, I asked my mother, what will I be? Will I be pretty? Will I be rich? Here's what she said to me.

Lee: I'm guessing it was a no.

What Did I Do Last Night?: After Lee's father takes him on a Stag night they wake up in a cell. The Policeman comes in and starts talking to them in another language. It turns out he is doing this as a joke.

Will They or Won't They?: From Series 2 onwards, this is at the core of the programme between Lee and Lucy. Finally, after seven years and some significant nudging from upstairs neighbours Toby and Anna, They Do.

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